By Kate O'Connor-Reynolds / Photos By David Dietrich
The renovation of Vinod and Stasha Kapoor’s Biltmore Forest home was an act of architectural diplomacy, a blending of East and West. Their mid-century ranch-style home was “very closed—lots of walls and rooms,” says Stasha. They yearned for a more open modern space that would provide views of the surrounding landscape and a serene backdrop for their extensive collection of oriental art.
“They wanted a family room that gave them a lighter, more contemporary, almost reverent space,” explains Robert Griffin of Griffin Architects in Asheville who, along with his associate Allen Currens, designed a 1,000-square-foot addition to the house.
“We went in with a great appreciation for a well-designed ranch home,” says Currens.
“The major challenge was listening to what was good about the original house, because it had these wonderful components that were hidden,” observes Griffin.
Among those components were the Roman brick columns that supported the porch. “We took what had been the original dining room and expanded that space to become the sitting room, added a new dining room out into what had originally been the porch, and added another row of columns beyond the porch at the same ‘rhythm’ as the original columns to create additional indoor and outdoor space,” Griffin explains.
That rhythm, says Griffin, creates a processional feeling and gives the interior and exterior spaces a common language. The existing red brick columns were painted to match new taupe Roman brick procured by A&B Construction, the contractors on the project. The same brick was also used to create a fireplace surround, with an inset, flat-screen television worked into the mantle.
To accommodate and display the couple’s exquisite porcelains, says Griffin, “we chose glass shelves suspended by stainless-steel rods so that they would ‘float’ in front of the brick walls.” Large windows provide ambient light and allow a natural transition between the rear terrace and the paintings, rugs and ceramics inside, which, says Currens, “places the objects in the garden metaphorically.”
Talk about détente.
